Description of Academic Experience That Has Influenced My Life:
When considering the countless academic experiences that have occurred in my life, a particularly demanding and recent event comes to mind. I had been working as an adjunct professor at my current place of employment, CCRI, for two semesters. I still had some coursework to complete before receiving my master’s degree, which included to two graduate-level courses in engineering and a little thing we call a thesis. All was well and progress was being made when my boss informed me that he needed to list a posting in order to fill a full-time position for assistant professor, a position I already, imprudently, considered to be my own. The job listing was to be posted in only two months and filled by the start of the next semester. The only problem I faced in applying was that it required a completed master’s degree. This left me with exactly one semester to complete my coursework and thesis, difficult, but not impossible.
I quickly registered for my classes and ran to my advisor. She was apprehensive, but finally conceded to allow me to attempt my graduation plan. This would put my completion date an entire semester ahead of schedule. Luckily, I had already completed my research so it was time, as Professor Fogelman says, to write, write, write. It was also during this time that I attended both my classes and completed the dozens of hours of out-of-class assignments required to succeed. This would have been an incredibly straining time for anyone, but compound this with a fulltime teaching schedule at CCRI, where without research requirements, included four, different classes, all of which require laboratory sessions. One of these classes was a newly offered, physics-based, Introduction to Renewable Energy, which I was developing from scratch.
I had to remind myself that this was not a permanent situation and that I could do this. I have always been motivated and hard working but this really tested that. For someone who is a firm believer in getting their eight hours of sleep every night, I certainly didn’t heed my own advice that semester. I completed my teaching responsibilities, my coursework and finally my thesis was ready for defense. This was the culmination of the most stressful, academic experience I have encountered. I kept calm and continued to remind myself that I did know more about my project than anyone else, even, with the utmost respect, more than my advisor. I completed my defense and after some deliberation I received the great news that I had successfully completed my master’s degree.
This experience taught me that I could achieve any level of success academically; how far I wanted to take it was now up to me. Perhaps, if I could achieve my goals in school under such demanding pressures, I could succeed at any reasonable goal I set for myself. I also learned to never give up and to persist, regardless of how arduous the task. These valuable life lessons came none to soon since my job interview was the very next day! This was also a successful and exciting experience.
When considering the countless academic experiences that have occurred in my life, a particularly demanding and recent event comes to mind. I had been working as an adjunct professor at my current place of employment, CCRI, for two semesters. I still had some coursework to complete before receiving my master’s degree, which included to two graduate-level courses in engineering and a little thing we call a thesis. All was well and progress was being made when my boss informed me that he needed to list a posting in order to fill a full-time position for assistant professor, a position I already, imprudently, considered to be my own. The job listing was to be posted in only two months and filled by the start of the next semester. The only problem I faced in applying was that it required a completed master’s degree. This left me with exactly one semester to complete my coursework and thesis, difficult, but not impossible.
I quickly registered for my classes and ran to my advisor. She was apprehensive, but finally conceded to allow me to attempt my graduation plan. This would put my completion date an entire semester ahead of schedule. Luckily, I had already completed my research so it was time, as Professor Fogelman says, to write, write, write. It was also during this time that I attended both my classes and completed the dozens of hours of out-of-class assignments required to succeed. This would have been an incredibly straining time for anyone, but compound this with a fulltime teaching schedule at CCRI, where without research requirements, included four, different classes, all of which require laboratory sessions. One of these classes was a newly offered, physics-based, Introduction to Renewable Energy, which I was developing from scratch.
I had to remind myself that this was not a permanent situation and that I could do this. I have always been motivated and hard working but this really tested that. For someone who is a firm believer in getting their eight hours of sleep every night, I certainly didn’t heed my own advice that semester. I completed my teaching responsibilities, my coursework and finally my thesis was ready for defense. This was the culmination of the most stressful, academic experience I have encountered. I kept calm and continued to remind myself that I did know more about my project than anyone else, even, with the utmost respect, more than my advisor. I completed my defense and after some deliberation I received the great news that I had successfully completed my master’s degree.
This experience taught me that I could achieve any level of success academically; how far I wanted to take it was now up to me. Perhaps, if I could achieve my goals in school under such demanding pressures, I could succeed at any reasonable goal I set for myself. I also learned to never give up and to persist, regardless of how arduous the task. These valuable life lessons came none to soon since my job interview was the very next day! This was also a successful and exciting experience.